Tim Gannon

Tim Gannon, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse, Inc. is an extremely successful businessman, serial entrepreneur, sportsman and a staunch polo sponsor. An alumnus of Florida State University, he studied art history and dreamed of being a museum curator; this took him to Florence, Italy, where he became a tour guide for an art gallery. He then went to Aspen, Colorado where he developed his passion for food and cooking. Over the next 14 years he worked at Steak & Ale for Norman Brinker, and then Al Copeland hired Tim to help operate his Copeland’s Cajun Cafe’ in New Orleans. In 1987, Bob Basham and Chris Sullivan asked him to become their partner and launch a new restaurant concept that became known as Outback Steakhouse. Tim sold his saddle for $250.00 and arrived in Tampa with $37.00 in his pocket. Tim developed Outback’s iconic “Bloomin’ Onion” recipe, which has generated over $1 billion in worldwide sales, as well as many of the other dishes on Outback’s menu. Under Mr. Gannon’s leadership, Outback Steakhouse significantly expanded its global footprint from one restaurant to over 1400 locations. In 2006, Gannon co-founded OSI Restaurant Partners, an operator of Outback, Carraba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s Restaurant and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar units. Outback went public in 2012. In 2011 he launched “Kettle Comfort, Cooking for America,” a West Palm Beach, FL based charitable organization to deliver Chef-inspired food to thousands of hungry or nutrition deprived people on a daily basis. The company dissolved in 2012. Undeterred, in 2012 he started the South Florida Franchise of the new PDQ concept, which had been founded in 2011 in Tampa by his Outback partner, Bob Basham, and Nick Reader (CEO of MVP Holdings). PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality) is a fast casual restaurant specializing in hand-breaded chicken tenders, hand-tossed salads, sandwiches, fresh cut fries and hand spun milkshakes and malts, all made with the finest ingredients and featuring daily homemade sauces and dressings homemade daily. The South Florida PDQ Franchise now has six locations (Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Ft Lauderdale and Miami), with two more slated to open. Mr. Gannon is also a champion polo player, and has been one of the great sponsors of the game. His team, Outback Polo, is the first ever to hold five U.S. championships (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001), and is the only team to win three U.S. Opens in a row. A Florida native and Palm Beach resident, Mr. Gannon’s other passion is his family: wife Christie, with whom he is very involved with tennis, and five children: Christopher, Kathleen, Blake, Bettina and J.T.